In San Diego, Matthew Hall noted Mayor Jerry Sanders and Chargers President & CEO Dean Spanos “rarely meet to discuss the team's desire for a new stadium,” but Chargers Special Counsel Mark Fabiani said that a “private meeting is in the works for the next two weeks.” It would be the pair's “fifth meeting in five years,” and it comes as talks in L.A. are “getting fast-tracked to consider building a stadium there.” Fabiani downplayed the upcoming meeting as “a general update meeting, nothing momentous.” Fabiani: "This is an opportune time for a meeting, given the pending California redevelopment and NFL CBA issues that could in many ways determine the future of a potential new stadium" (SIGNONSANDIEGO.com, 2/21). In California, Scott Bair notes such meetings are “exceedingly rare” (NORTH COUNTY TIMES, 2/22).
VIKING QUEST: In Minneapolis, Kaszuba & Olson reported two Minnesota state legislators Friday said that Ramsey County officials “have privately asked their opinion of a half-cent countywide sales-tax increase that would generate $300 million for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium.” The legislators added that Ramsey County is “aggressively exploring possible public-subsidy plans for a new stadium in Arden Hills.” County Commissioner Jan Parker denied that she “floated a specific proposal, let alone suggested that a half-cent sales tax increase would provide $300 million” (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 2/21).
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT: In North Carolina, Lukas Johnson noted the “world's largest high-definition video board is scheduled to make its debut during Charlotte Motor Speedway's May race events.” North Carolina-based Galvan Industries is “galvanizing the 250 tons of structural steel needed to mount the nearly 16,000-square-foot screen.” Galvan Technical Dir David Prior said that the design “consists of six vertical trusses that will stand 135 feet tall.” Horizontal beams, platforms and diagonal bracing will "add support so the screen can withstand gusts up to 100 miles per hour." The screen “will be illuminated by more than nine million LED lamps” (THATSRACIN.com, 2/21).
THE REAL DEAL: In Salt Lake City, Jared Page notes city leaders and the Real Salt Lake ownership group in ’07 proposed the development of the Salt Lake Regional Athletic Complex, but now “those plans have changed, or at the very least have stalled, and city officials say they are moving forward” with the project without the MLS team as a partner. A group of local residents has filed “four lawsuits against the city and another against the U.S. Army Corps or Engineers in hopes of stopping construction of the soccer complex and forcing the city to build elsewhere.” RSL Senior Dir of Marketing Trey Fitz-Gerald said that club officials “have not had any recent discussions about locating a soccer academy at or near the sports complex, and such an academy is not in the team’s immediate plans” (DESERET NEWS, 2/22).
